In This Twisted World
by ThePastReliesOnMemories
Summary: Orion had never experienced war in any way; the world he lived in was peaceful without a single trace of war. But he himself never had peace, for he had always saw things hidden to most people. And yet, it was because of that he was brought to a world drawn to war. How did his fate led to this twisted world, he never knew. (Nope, it's a three-shot now /shot)
1. Absolute One-Way Street

**Author's Notes: **_Ugggh. This is why I don't write in 3rd person - I can't write in multiple minds! I'm more of the 1st person view, honestly... This is gonna have some horrible plot and English if you think of it as that, so sorry. Its also my first time writing something related to Transformers, so if I wrote something wrong then I'm also sorry._

_This is only going to be a two-shot based on two songs that are connected and somewhat like this novel, might be three-shot if I bother to write the real ending to a light novel called 'Dream and Reality' based on Renko and Maribel of Touhou Project. This is just gonna be a mind eraser since I got myself teary-eyed at the light novel. Read it, if you're a Touhou fan. It's quite sad at the end though…Unless you got a heart of stone._

_Because of that, everyone might be a bit too much O.O.C. but that's how starters are. That, and I'm trying to make it similar to the PV of the two songs... Which is why Orion acts too out of character (Maybe? I dunno.) at the ending there. Gomenasai..._

_The reason I picked Soundwave and Optimus is because of their canon and my headcanon roles. I can somehow imagine Soundwave being Renko and Optimus (Who is Orion at the time.) being Maribel. Another reason is because that the pairing is my OTP. Heheh._

_Transformers Prime doesn't belong to me – it belongs to Hasbro._

* * *

Here he was, sitting at one of the tables in a café in Iacon. It just so happened that he had just finished running here and there in two cities looking for an answer to a question he had.

Orion stared at his friend, who was still talking to him about things. However, he couldn't focus on his friend's ramblings – the dim blue glow that appeared within the open seams around his friend took most of his focus away.

It reminded him of when he was just a young mech – curious and innocent. When he first found a path in an alleyway that led to another place, he went into it. He didn't think of anything else, and just ran through the city.

Orion at first felt quite excited at exploring a new place, but as time passed he began to feel nervous as he didn't see any end to the quite empty streets. In the end, he ended up getting lost and the already dark sky didn't do any help.

So the only thing he could do was to keep going.

In the end, he led himself to a building that was bigger than anything else he'd seen in his life. He didn't spend any more time at that spot, turned around and ran back where he came from. He didn't know when, but when he finally stopped running he was back at the place he used to be before he went in the alleyway.

Time didn't seem to have changed – it was still bright.

It was from there he began to see the seams everywhere – it never stopped even when he's already gotten his final upgrade. Though, he managed.

"Are you listening to me, Orion?"

Orion snapped out of his thoughts as the voice of his friend rang through his audio receptors. Blinking his optics, the sight of a panel-like servo with thin digits waved in front them. "Ah, I must've spaced out again," he told him, shaking his helm a bit.

A sigh followed out and he went to stare at the mech in front of him. "You really need to break that habit, Orion," his friend told him. Orion gave him a sheepish smile in response. "Well, you know how I can't, Soundwave."

Soundwave was someone he met when Megatronus came to the library he worked in. When they first met, they both clicked like a matching pair of tiles. As far as he remembered about him, Soundwave was a programmer who worked somewhere in Kaon but would follow Megatronus sometimes.

A vorn after their first meeting, they had their own meetings without Megatronus. In fact, they ended up doing some travelling when Orion trusted Soundwave with his secret – the seams. Soundwave, who was determined to help him, decided to do whatever it takes to find the truth about the things he saw.

Orion heard a chuckle come from the mech and saw him shook his head. "I suppose not… But I think I got a good place to figure out about your mysterious ability…" In Soundwave's hand was a data pad with an image on the screen.

"Here." He handed the data pad to Orion who took it.

He then activated the data pad, which revealed an image of a place he never thought he'd see again – the very place he encountered when he was but a young mech although it looks as if it's in ruins. He then began to feel nervous - he had noticed the small but truthfully large seam in the middle on the entrance that was up a number of stairs.

_'It wouldn't hurt to check it out… Right?' _He thought to himself, before looking up to face Soundwave. "What are we waiting for then? Let's see what this holds then," he said. Soundwave nodded before standing up from his seat with Orion following the action as well.

They both then headed to the exit before they began to run though the city of Iacon and into the darker parts where older secrets used to lie.

No one took a glance at them – Orion assumed that they were too preoccupied with their own business to take notice of two bots running down the streets as if their lives depended on it. That and the time showed that it was starting to get late.

In fact, by the time they'd reached possibly mechanometers from the place was the once bright sky turned into a dark blue with the two moons that shined in the dark sky. Moonlight shined down on both of them, but that fact didn't stop both of them.

But something did stop Orion, and he fell down to the ground harshly. _'What just…' _He silently thought, a dreaded feeling appearing when he felt pressure on one of his legs. As he lifted his head and turned to look behind him, horror appeared on his face plate as a servo that glowed a bright blue which came from a small seam held onto his leg.

He quickly turned his head to the fading figure of his friend who was going further and further while he was stuck here with no chance of escaping unless someone helped him, so he shouted Soundwave's name as loud as he could.

"S-Soundwave!" As Orion did so, more seams appeared around him and grew larger at an alarming rate. Soundwave didn't show any sign of listening, and the seams came with more servos that grabbed his arms and legs, and he called out for once last time.

"Soundwave!"

And he was pulled back as another servo covered his optics, and he found himself falling through a portal full of nothing but the same color that he saw in those seams. His optics began to leak with lubricant, but he didn't bother to wipe them away.

He's already too far gone_._ With no other way to get back, he's forced himself to accept the predicament and he shut his optics, letting fate take its course with him.

Soon, he was offlined by the impact of something slamming into his chassis.

* * *

The sudden feeling of the harsh ground on Orion's plating reminded him of his situation and he immediately onlined himself, lifting his helm from it. He found himself staring into a pair of magenta colored legs, so he looked up. The sight of a mech that looked like Alpha Trion surprised him, and he turned his helm to his left.

The place he was in wasn't like the part of Iacon he knew, but instead it the place was surrounded by buildings he'd never saw as well. Looking back at the mysterious mech, he noticed that he was smiling at him before he handed a servo to him, which he took.

From there, he began to live his life in the twisted world he ended up in. The mech who he now knows as Alpha Trion, one of the Thirteen Primes – which confirmed his suspicious back then – helped him in his new life. He became a student to Alpha Trion and him his mentor.

He also ended up meeting Megatronus of that world, but he never saw Soundwave.

Orion thought that it would be like how he lived back in his place, but those thoughts were destroyed completely when he was appointed Prime. It caused Megatronus to think that he betrayed him, and went off to start a war.

By then, with the upgrades that came with the Matrix of Leadership, he was a completely different mech by then. Even his name was no longer 'Orion Pax', but it was now 'Optimus Prime' who was the Thirteenth Prime. His personality changed so much that he didn't even know himself anymore.

If he had a word in this, he'd say that he never wanted this. He wasn't fit to take on the role of a leader, even if he felt pity and wanted the caste system gone. The Orion of this world should've been the one, not him.

So why bother? It was no use, he'd tell himself.

What was done was done; he couldn't change the past if he wanted to. Even though his ability over the seams seems to have gotten stronger over the vorns – he could even control them and make them visible to others but he rarely ever did.

So now, he stood in front of the Autobot base, near the very same stairs he saw in a data pad given to him by a dear friend. Staring at one of the moons in the night sky, he shut his optics and let himself be drowned in the memories of the past. There was no one to bother him – it was late and the only ones that remained online were the ones that were on guard duty.

Even they were situated at the bottom of the stairs.

The memory that came to his mind was the one when he had a small chat with Ratchet and Bumblebee who was still recovering from having his voice box crushed by Megatron. He had asked a few questions of Bumblebee's wellbeing, and he was given positive answers by Ratchet.

With that, he smiled a small smile. But even when he felt relieved…

… He was taken _captive_ into this world.

The sound of something falling onto the ground behind him didn't make him turn around to see, for he knew who it was already. Keeping himself calm, he had to stop him from taking another step.

_'Don't look. Don't come. Don't know. Don't cross over,'_ he thought as he heard the small gasp that came from the mech behind him.

"O… Orion?"

How long has it been since he last heard his real name?

"Turn your back on this absolute and final path."

"Why?" That voice he longed to listen to after so many vorns of being in this twisted place almost made him burst out crying. Becoming someone he didn't want to be – burdened with the weight of an army on his shoulders – was something he never wanted.

But it is all too late, for the path he took was an absolute one-way street… And he's forever bound by it.

_'Don't listen. Don't get closer. Don't comprehend. Don't search.'_ Emotions began to well up inside him as lubricant began to brim in his optics. "Goodbye," he addressed the farewell to him. The sound of shuffling behind him told himself that _he_ was about to stand up. "Orion!"

There was nothing after that.

He griped his servos as he readied himself, and he quickly turned around to face the scene behind him. Though, there was nothing there. No sign of the mech who had been his old friend, no sign of anyone being there, nothing.

Realization came to him, and he dropped to his knees.

It was already too late for him to even attempt to return, for he was no longer the librarian of the Hall of Records from Iacon that went by the name of Orion Pax.

He was now Optimus Prime, the Thirteenth of the Primes, leader of the Autobots and bearer of the Matrix of Leadership.

He'd doubt anyone from his world would recognize him in this state.

Orion could only sit there as he stared into his own servos, contemplating the choices he'd done to deserve this. But the only thing that was the most prominent was the fact that he should've went _back_ before he went too far in this life.

_'… It is of no use,'_ He thought to himself as he shut his optics tightly, feeling the cold lubricant slide down his face plate.

"Everything… Everything is far too late…" He whispered to himself as he lowered his head, bathed in the moonlight as he let himself drown once again in his sorrow.

* * *

Once again, he found himself standing in the very spot that he sat on an orbital cycle ago. Staring into the night sky before shutting his optics, he let it calm himself down from the pressure of the new life he had.

When he opened his optics again, he was almost surprised to see a bot standing in front of him. When he realized who it was, he mentally did a sheepish grin.

_'It seems we meet again.'_

**CHAPTER END**


	2. Here Again, Once More

**Author's Notes: ****_…_**_Ah, screw it. I got so much information wrong in the last chapter I'm not even going to bother fix it. I never watched Transformers Prime other than the first pilot episode that I never finished and the 'Orion Pax, Part 2' or something which I also never finished… So I DON'T KNOW ALMOST ANYTHING! The only information I'm getting are from wikis. Literally, wikis._

_Also, this might be a horribly O.O.C. story if you can't think of those two in different roles… _

_If you're thinking why this chapter is somewhat longer than the last one, my only answer is that when I feel interested to try and think like that character I somewhat write longer rather than the ones I don't. Also, writer's block. School has taken up most of my memory space, so imagination is quite scarce._

_Okay, 2nd chapter, last one to the two-shot. If you want the ending to the light novel with these two, I'm writing it as a one shot. But if you guys are fine with these two chapters, then I'll still write it but I'm keeping it. And somehow I feel like changing this to a three-shot by adding an ending to this chapter…_

_Transformers Prime doesn't belong to me – it belongs to Hasbro._

* * *

"Soundwave, would you like to come with me to meet a friend of mine?"

Soundwave looked up from where he was focusing intently in the data pad he held to look at the mech seated across the table. "…And may I ask who this friend of yours is?" He asked him, staring boringly into his blue optics. The mech only smiled at him in response.

"You'll know when you see him… The least I can tell you is that he works in Iacon."

Soundwave raised an optical ridge in question. "Why being so secretive, Megatronus?" He asked him again. "You know why," Megatronus answered, smiling. Just with that smile, he already knew the reason why.

He sighed in defeat and shut the data pad off before placing it in his subspace. "Fine… But you owe me some time alone. I can't run away from my work all the time," he told him, but not before giving him a smile albeit a small one.

Megatronus beamed at him. "It's settled then!" They both stood up from their table before Megatronus paid for the energon they drank and left the café. After that, they both transformed into their vehicle modes and flew off to Iacon with Megatronus leading the way.

After a few cycles, they'd arrived in the city of Iacon. Soundwave began to get curious on who this friend of Megatronus is – Iacon was known for its two important locations; The Hall of Records and the Observatory of Iacon. He wondered if Megatronus's friend worked at either places.

When he led him to the Hall of Records, he thought that this friend of his was a librarian – or data clerk as another word for librarian. He preferred calling people who worked in libraries as the former name.

Soon, they both landed on the platform where the library stood. Transforming back to their robot forms, they both soon spotted a mech with red and blue paint outside the building. Megatronus immediately called out to him.

"Orion!"

The mech took notice and ran towards them both before greeting with Megatronus. When he took notice of Soundwave, Megatronus used the opportunity to introduce him with Soundwave and vice versa.

"Orion, this is Soundwave, a programmer in Kaon. Soundwave, this is Orion Pax, a data clerk in the Hall of Records," Megatronus introduced, confirming Soundwave's hypothesis of his friend.

Orion was the first to make a move, and extended a servo to him. "Hello, nice to meet you, Soundwave," he greeted. Soundwave was silent for a few nano-kliks before he also took hold of Orion's hand, shaking it.

"Nice to meet you too, Orion Pax," he greeted back.

That was how they first met a vorn ago.

* * *

They'd been sitting in another café that Orion used to drink his energon at. Megatronus had left for a short moment to finish a work of his and would return soon, leaving them both at their table.

"Soundwave…?"

The mech that was addressed lifted his helm from the data pad he held to face the red and blue mech who strangely looked nervous all of a sudden. "What is it?" he asked him.

Orion looked at him with his blue optics before averting them away. "Never mind… It's not important," he told him. Soundwave knew he was hiding something – after a vorn since meeting him, he got to know the mech a bit deeper.

One of the things he learned about him was that Orion was a terrible liar.

Soundwave then looked at him silently before speaking up. "You can tell me, Orion. I've kept most of your secrets by now, so why not this time?" he stated, surprising Orion. Orion looked around before asking him something.

"…You promise that whatever I'm telling won't change anything between us?"

Soundwave stared at him, before giving Orion a kind smile which was a rare thing to see on the mech.

"I've heard most of your dirty secrets and I didn't even judge you for that. So what could be possibly worse than the ones I've heard?"

Orion looked back at him before he finally told him. "Would you believe me if I told you that wherever I look, I see seams that sometimes show me some place else…?" Soundwave contemplated his words, and he nodded.

"…To be honest, I'd always been interested in the stranger things. It was actually my second passion before programming, so I believe you." Orion finally smiled; replacing the nervous emotion he had just a few kliks ago.

"Thanks, I guess," he thanked him. Soundwave just shrugged.

"No problem."

That was when he first learned of Orion's ability.

* * *

He flew through the night sky of Cybertron in his robot form, approaching a city where a friend of his worked.

Landing on a platform, he approached the large building before the doors slid open. Walking through it, he then spotted Orion who stood in the middle platform. From where he stood, he approached the end of the platform and was about to transform to get to him when a previously non-existent path appeared, glowing a dull blue.

'_Well, that could've appeared a bit earlier…'_ he thought.

Walking across to the platform, he quickened his pace so that he could talk to him about something on the platform. Looking back, the path he took faded away into the background.

He turned his helm around to face Orion only to see him clearing up a few things. "Orion?" he called, taking again his friend's attention. "Hold on, I'm about to finish my shift," he answered, pressing a few buttons on a console nearby.

A klik later, Orion finally turned to face Soundwave. "Okay, so what is it?" he asked. Without another word, he took out a data pad from his subspace and gave it to the data clerk. Orion activated it to see two cities – Tyger Pax and Kaon.

"… Why these two?" he finally asked. "In those two places, there were a few spots I'd suspect to have some sort of relation with the worlds you end up seeing while in recharge," Soundwave answered, getting close enough to the other so that he could tap at one part of the data pad.

Upon that, lines of data appeared showing images of places in both cities.

"Oh."

Orion then gave the data pad back to Soundwave who kept it in his subspace again. With nothing more to say, they both left the Hall of Records and went on to both cities, looking for the answers that are hidden in the dark. Despite their efforts, it didn't lead to anything.

In the end, they ended up sitting back at the café – which was luckily operational for a long stretch of time.

"That… didn't reveal very much," Orion spoke. Soundwave couldn't help but feel a bit guilty; he did just waste some of their time searching for clue to the answer for Orion's power. "Maybe I should've researched a bit more..." he muttered as he frowned, taking the same data pad out of his subspace and began to delete some of its information.

Orion was still optimistic as he gave a smile towards the busy mech in front of him. "If you got anymore, it wouldn't hurt to do one last trip for the moment," he informed him. Hearing that, Soundwave also gave back a smile as he then made an image pop up on the screen, which he lifted his helm to tell him about the place…

…Only to realize that he was spacing out again when he was halfway through his explanation. Shaking his helm, he then waved his servo in front of his face in hopes that it was enough to break him out of it. He didn't show any sign of responding, so he resorted to speaking.

"Are you listening to me, Orion?"

At that, Orion then blinked his optics as he shook his helm.

"Ah, I must've spaced out again."

Soundwave let out a sigh as he stared into his friend's blue optics. "You really need to break that habit, Orion," he advised him. What he got in reply was a sheepish smile from the mech.

"Well, you know how I can't, Soundwave."

_'I wonder how many times I have told you about that, though…' _Soundwave wondered. He then chuckled a bit, shaking his head. "I suppose not… But I think I got a good place to figure out about your mysterious ability…" he said before his handed over the data pad he held.

The image was a building that had long been abandoned; he presumed that it was long before the two of them had even existed. What made it interesting was a mark he had saw – a mark of the Primes.

Orion took it, which he examined the image on the data pad's screen. Soundwave had noticed the small emotion of nervousness appear on the mech's faceplate, but he ignored it as he then lifted his helm up with a determined expression.

"What are we waiting for then? Let's see what this holds then," he said. Soundwave nodded before standing up from his seat with Orion following the action as well.

Then, they ran through the city. The time was starting to get late and most bots were either returning to their homes or going to some place. Even so, no one paid attention to the two of them.

He kept running, not letting anything else distract him. When the scenery changed, he was aware that he was getting closer to the place in the image. He had heard something as well, but he ignored it and kept going.

Seeing a flight of stairs, his optics widened and his face plate brightened with a smile. _'It's here!'_

Since he couldn't slow himself down, he jumped up the stairs but he miscalculated the amount he could jump over and tripped.

Everything around him turned dark.

When Soundwave fell to the ground, he slowly lifted himself up only to see a mech standing a few mechanometers from him. When he saw the color scheme the mech had, he gasped lightly in surprise.

"O… Orion?"

The mech who he thought was Orion didn't turn, but instead spoke his words in a monotone voice that sent a shiver down his back. "Turn your back on this absolute and final path."

"Why?"

"For once you take another step; you won't be able to turn back."

His voice _sounded_ like him, for Primus' sake. What else can he say other than to conclude that this mysterious mech _is_ Orion? Then, why is he speaking like that? "Don't be like this, Orion. Tell me why!" He demanded.

"…Goodbye."

_'No, don't you dare!' _Soundwave thought as he tried to reach out to him. "Orion!"

The space where Orion used to be then 'closed' off, revealing no other trace of him being there. His optics widened in realization as reality came crashing down on him.

Orion was forever gone, in someplace he could possibly never reach.

_'No. No, no, no!' _he thought as he finally stood on his hands and knees, anger and confusion running through his processor. He questioned why 'he' had acted like that, but most of all is why _he _wouldn't **listen**_._

Gritting his denta, he slammed the ground with his right servo which was in the form of a fist as a strong determination grew within him. He's going to bring him back – if it meant he'll have to fight to break him out of his current state of mind, then so _be it_.

* * *

"Megatronus?"

Said mech turned around to face the mech who addressed him, who turned out to be Soundwave… That had a darker expression on his face plate unlike he had seen throughout his lifetime. It confused him as to why he was like that.

"Yes? What is it, Soundwave?" he asked. "I would like to ask you if you can teach me the ways of fighting back when you were a soldier," Soundwave answered, not faltering in his words.

It surprised him to say – never had a bot come up to say that they would like to learn how to fight from him, what else his own friend who was a programmer. "May I ask why, then?" he asked again.

"Can't anyone learn? I'm just learning self defense, honestly," he reasoned. Megatronus thought it was suspicious for a moment, but he shrugged mentally as he accepted the reason. "… Alright. We'll start after a megacycle, so ready yourself."

Megatronus then turned to leave but not before he heard another statement from the programmer.

"Oh, and Orion might not be joining us for approximately a vorn or more."

He immediately turned around to face the mech, but he had already left by then. He decided that he'll just have to ask why later, then.

* * *

This is it.

The very day has come.

Sitting while reading up on a few data pads on battling and strategizing, he finally sighed as he shut them down before placing them on the table. He trained himself up for this moment – he even got what he used to call as his tools to end up being quite the weapons themselves.

Blinking his optics, he'd noticed how his chamber had looked a bit worse off than the last time he took a look around. Time seemed to have passed quite fast without the presence of the very mech who honestly made him the happiest mech on Cybertron with his friendship with him.

Over the solar cycles that passed, he began to repeat a simple routine. Wake up from recharge, go to work, train with Megatronus, read up on important things and finally go into recharge before repeating it the next day.

However, this time he'll break that chain.

Soundwave had finally perfected his battle skills to the point that he was able to almost take down Megatronus, but there was no hint if Orion would or can battle like Megatronus. But from where he had managed to see his arms, he could tell that there were a few weapons integrated into him.

Looking near the edge of the table was a visor that he had designed to fit into his helm. If he was going into another world, he'll have to hide his identity – hence the visor.

Taking it, he placed it over his face plate until it clicked; signaling that it's placed and locked until the next time he takes it off. Once it was on, the visor showed whatever he was looking at though it was tinted a bit with black as well as a few signs that either examined his surroundings or his location.

No turning back. He's already broken the warnings Orion told him stellar cycles ago.

Standing up from his seat, he slowly walked towards the door without a moment of hesitation. Before the door opened, he sighed as he saw a data pad on a shelf that was full of pictures of their time together – with Megatronus or not.

_'Orion… I'm coming.'_

* * *

Standing in front of the very same stairs where he had lost who he could call his dear friend to a place he might never be able to go to, he slowly began to walk up the stairs as he bared himself for the upcoming battle he himself will conduct.

With each step, thoughts began to rush through his processor.

_'Will he be there?'_

_'Would I be able to break him out of it?'_

_'Am I even ready to do this?'_

Finally on to the last few steps, only one thought remained. _'I am, and I will.'_

And so, he closed his optics while trusting his instincts that whatever brought him there will bring him again.

The moment he opened them again, he was back in that world with Orion standing where he was the last time he saw him – bathed in moonlight, staring into the darkened sky with its two glowing moons. _'He's here…'_ he thought, carefully approaching him.

Once he was close enough to him, Soundwave was about to make the slightest bit of noise to get his attention when he himself turned around. Blue optics met with his purple ones which were hidden behind the visor he wore.

Taking in how Orion looked, he was very different in terms of appearance. Where Orion barely had the thickest armor on, this one had strong armor as if designed to take in more damage while in battle. That, and Orion barely had any weapons on while this had a few on his arms.

_'No. Turning. Back,' _he repeated in his mind.

"I would like to have a duel with you… Sir."

He spoke those words calmly, but if he were honest he was scared. Soundwave stared at the mech in front of him behind the visor he wore who kept a stoic face – a familiar one at that. There was no doubting it – this mech had to be Orion, though upgraded. "If you say so, then I shall grant you one."

Here again, once more, they both met as two strangers in a world beyond their comprehension.

And he wasn't planning on getting defeated.

**CHAPTER END**


	3. Facing This Twisted World

**Author's Notes: **_Welp, screw the two-shot; I got three-shots! __**/brick'd**_

_… I tried. I'm sorryyyyy! D:_

_Also, Transformers Prime doesn't belong to me – it belongs to Hasbro._

* * *

Starting from there, everything was a blur.

They clashed, they attacked, they countered… Everything just felt _numb_ to him. Nothing else mattered but the fact that he was battling against his friend who he hasn't seen for vorns.

As much as Soundwave would want to feel happiness at their meeting, he couldn't help but feel nothing at all.

_Attack and defend. Counter and attack._

Megatronus' training was quite effective – he used to be a skilled soldier back in his days until he settled as a politician. He remembered when he had to explain the situation to him; the mech had only nodded in understanding before saying the very sentence that made him gave his all to bring Orion back.

_"If it means that much that you're the only one who can bring him back… Then I'll give you all of my knowledge in the arts of battling."_

Those words rang true – he was the only one.

And he wouldn't let Megatronus down for this was his own goal as well.

* * *

Orion was proving to be a very good battler…

… A better one than him, that's for sure.

Soundwave now found himself slumped against the wall of the large building, wounds adorning his chassis. The visor he wore had broke and shattered, leaving half of his face plate exposed.

He did expect that he might end up being defeated instead, but he relied on hope that he might be able to win instead.

Luck wasn't on his side, was it?

Weakly opening his optics, he lifted his helm to see the barrel of Orion's blaster. Lifting his helm up higher, he was met with Orion's stoic face as he prepared to shoot him.

Lowering his helm, he shut his optics for the incoming shot. The low humming of the blaster indicated that it was charging until the humming grew louder.

_Not._

Soundwave immediately opened his optics as he released a pair of tentacles – one of them wrapped against Orion's waist before throwing him back. The expression of surprise that adorned his face before he threw him was enough to tell that even Orion didn't know he had those.

Not surprising – he kept them a secret and only used them while he was working. Only Megatronus knew, and that was when he was training with him.

Slowly standing up, he held down the pain he felt until he was standing straight. Once he stood up straight, he detached the half-broken visor he wore before throwing it away, causing it to shatter upon impact.

Orion didn't take long to recover – he only had a few dents and scratches but nothing as damaging as his.

Examining his situation, he wouldn't have the advantage for long considering his condition… But it wouldn't hurt to have hope in himself.

And as much as he would like to believe in that, he still can't deny the possibility.

* * *

Alarm signs flashed through his optics, telling that he has very little chance of even _surviving_ if he continued this fight.

But he can't.

He has to bring Orion back.

It was a promise; to himself and Megatronus as well.

Orion then gave a hard punch at his helm, which caused him to stagger back a bit. When he wiped the energon that bled out of a wound on his face plate, he opened his optics a nano-klik too late to see a bright light in front of his eyes.

Surprise adorned his features before a mournful smile appeared.

_'… Sorry, Megatronus,' _Soundwave thought sadly as he shut his optics, preparing for the blast. If he died in this very moment, at least he managed to see him one last time.

Then his senses went numb with pain before it faded away as unconsciousness overtook him.

_'I failed.'_

* * *

When his senses returned, the one feeling that came through was the severe feeling of pain followed by numbness. He could hear the low hum of a machine but he could hear the voice of somebot talking nearby.

"…wave? Can you… … me?"

That voice sounded familiar.

"Plea… … ke up…"

_'… Orion?...' _Soundwave thought weakly.

"I'm… sorry…"

Bit by bit, he felt himself regain control over himself. It took a while, but once he could open his eyes he almost expected to see either nothing or the roof of his chamber.

Instead, he was met with the sight of Orion's blue optics staring into his own.

Orion's expression went from astonished to happiness as he began to ask him questions on whether he feels alright.

When was the last time he saw that expression of happiness?

Soundwave blinked a few times as he focused on his hearing – he was a bit surprised to see him as far as he could say. "… How am I alive?" he finally asked.

Orion turned his head to look away from him in shame. "… I almost killed you… but I brought you back to the Autobot base," he explained to him, sorrow in his voice. When Soundwave heard where he was, he was confused. "… The Autobot base?"

"Ah, right," Orion said, realizing that his old friend wasn't properly introduced to this other world. "Well, think you can sit up for a moment?" he asked him first. He merely nodded as he put his arms back to push himself up with a bit of help from Orion.

Once he sat up, he was met with quite a sight.

From the scenery, he was probably in the med bay of the 'Autobot' base as Orion called it. Rows of berths lined across the wall, some having somebot on it and some were empty. "We're in the medbay if you haven't figured that out already," Orion told him.

"… Of course I did, you librarian," Soundwave said, joking a bit as. "Just in case, you sleepyhead," Orion joked back. They both laughed a bit, relishing in their old moments together.

Though after a while their laughter ceased and silence soon followed after other than the hum of the monitors.

Soundwave then took at good look at Orion's appearance, noticing many changes in his armor and parts. "What… happened to you, Orion?" he asked him in a weak voice. Said mech froze for a moment before slowly turning to face him.

In his optics was an obvious emotion of regret.

"Do you still remember about those seams I said?" he asked him first. He nodded – that unique ability of his never left his mind even after Orion was gone.

"… Those seams brought me here. When I came to after arriving in this world, another mech by the name of 'Alpha Trion' found me. He helped me out in this world, going as far as making me his apprentice," Orion began to explain.

Soundwave then remembered something about that name. "Wait… Wasn't Alpha Trion one of the Thirteen Primes who perished?" he asked. Orion nodded. "He is. In fact, this world is a total parallel universe to ours so there are many different things as opposed to our world," he continued.

"Is there?" Soundwave then asked again. "Yes… In fact, this world has Cybertron waged in war with two factions against one another – the Autobots against the Decepticons which is led by Megatron-" Orion answered before being cut off by Soundwave.

"What? Megatronus is leading an army?!" he asked, bewildered. "This world's Megatronus is now called Megatron, actually. There's a reason why he waged war, though.

Our Cybertron was peaceful and didn't have anything that separated one from another. However, this Cybertron had a caste system that separated the poor from the rich. Megatronus was a miner in this world as opposed to ours and became a gladiator where he rose in political power to dispel of the system.

I was still a data clerk in Iacon, but even I disliked the caste system. So I entered myself in political affairs and ended up meeting Megatronus. We were friends just like in our world, but this Megatronus had its… dark ends.

Back then before I became intertwined with this world's problems, Alpha Trion had said that I was a Prime and that I would have to lead this community to peace. The problem is – I wasn't ready for such a position.

When Megatronus and I were about to meet with the High Council, we both spoke of our thoughts and actions that we will do as Prime to help the community. In the end, I was chosen as Prime, causing Megatronus to think I betrayed him and start this war," he answered.

Soundwave blinked his optics a few times as he took the information in. "… Are you saying that… you're a Prime now?" he asked in confusion. Orion merely nodded.

"What a surprise… I don't suppose you have a new name by now?" he continued. "It's Optimus Prime," Orion - or rather, Optimus Prime – answered. "That's the name of the thirteenth Prime..." Soundwave muttered thoughtfully.

Orion just smiled sadly when he heard that. "Though, mind me asking if I had an 'evil' version of me roaming around in this world?" Soundwave asked him. "Strangely enough, I didn't see you the whole time I was here," Orion answered while shaking his helm.

"…Oh," Soundwave then realized something.

Orion was the _leader_ of the Autobots.

"You're the leader?" he asked right after that thought came to his mind. Orion nodded as a mournful expression appeared on his face plate.

It meant that Orion can never leave this world – for he no longer was Orion Pax who was just a data clerk but as Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots and the thirteenth of the Primes.

"… Why?" Soundwave whispered sadly as the situation dawned on him. "I don't know… It seems that fate had many things in store for the two of us…" Orion answered as he looked at him. Silence soon followed after, with one another having no idea to continue their conversation.

After a klik or two, the former of the two spoke up. "… I missed you, Orion," he muttered as he lowered his helm. The red and blue mech was silent for a few nano-kliks before he answered. "… So did I."

And silence took over the room again.

Soon, Orion spoke.

"… Why don't you help me?" he asked him. Soundwave lifted his helm up to meet Orion's gaze. "What?" he asked back, not hearing Orion's words correctly. "Help me save this world, Soundwave," he answered.

Soundwave was baffled by Orion's words.

"But, what about Megatronus in our world?" he asked him. Orion just smiled sadly as he replied. "As much as I would like to go back to our world, I'm no longer the Orion Pax he knew…"

Soundwave then thought over his choices. Even if he wanted to go back, he would end up losing Orion all over again. Plus, he didn't know _how_ to go back. In conclusion, he was stuck here just like Orion.

In the end, he sighed as a small smile appeared on his face plate. "Well, sure as heck I'm not going to lose you again," he told him. Orion smiled back at him, reminding him of the old times they had together in the other world.

"Welcome to the Autobots then, Soundwave."

And they will face this world together, for better or for worse.


End file.
